New York – Infections of the Western Nile Virus are intense so far this year, the cases of cases reaching 40% more than normal, according to health officials.
More than 770 cases, including around 490 serious cases, were reported in early September, according to data from the centers for Disease Control and Prevention published this week. About 550 cases – including 350 serious – are generally reported at this time of the year.
Health managers accelerate warnings to the public, as most cases of the disease that cause mosquitoes are reported in August and September.
“The Western Nile Virus can be a very serious illness and its presence in mosquitoes remains high at the moment in the Massachusetts,” said public health commissioner last week, Dr. Robbie Goldstein.
People can protect themselves by wearing shirts and long -sleeved pants when possible, and using an insectuge recorded by EPA when it spends time outside, according to health officials.
The Western Nile Virus was reported for the first time in the United States in 1999 in New York, then gradually widespread across the country. He culminated in 2003, when nearly 10,000 cases were reported.
Scientists say that many people – perhaps tens of thousands each year – are infected but do not know it because they have no symptoms, or only headaches, headache, joint pain, vomiting, vomiting, diarrhea and rastered rashes.
In serious cases, damage to the central nervous system causes inflammation of the brain or spinal cord, and even death.
Over the past decade, health officials have presented reports of 2,000 cases per year on average, including 1,200 potentially fatal neurological diseases and around 120 deaths. Deaths are about to be higher this year, said CDC officials, but have refused to discuss details, saying that mortality statistics are too preliminary.
The problem is not that there are more mosquitoes this year, but rather than a higher proportion of bugs transports the virus, said CDC officials. Mosquito infection rates can be affected by factors such as temperature, precipitation, the quantity of insect control and the number of infected neighboring birds.
Colorado, which tends to see more viruses from the Western Nile, has reported that around 150 of the country’s cases – more than the other states report.
Fort Collins is a hot spot. The surveillance of last month in an area in the southwest of the city revealed that 35 mosquitoes out of 1,000 were infected – much higher than the 8 per 1,000 which would be expected for this period of the year – said Roxanne Connelly, an entomologist of the CDC who lives there.
We don’t know why, but she noted that it was a humid and warm year.
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